Since the 16th and 17th centuries, scientific discovery has followed the iterative process of the scientific method: observation, hypothesis development, and testing with physical experiments. This process remained largely unchanged until the mid-20th century when digital computers revolutionized scientific research by enabling detailed simulations of physical phenomena. Over the last century, computational tools have transformed scientific discovery, allowing for rapid and cost-effective hypothesis testing before physical experiments.
However, fields involving quantum mechanical effects have not seen the same benefits from computational advances. Simulating quantum physics requires exponentially increasing classical computing resources with each additional quantum particle, limiting the scope of quantum systems that can be studied. Despite successes in specific cases, the lack of scalable and accurate quantum simulation tools has hindered understanding in areas like superconductivity, chemistry, and magnetism.
This challenge inspired Feynman’s proposal for a quantum computer in the 1980s. Recently, the first generation of these devices, known as Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers, has emerged, though they face challenges with noise and scalability. The next generation of quantum computers is expected to leverage error correction for fault-tolerant quantum computation. This technological progress hints at the potential for quantum mechanical systems to undergo a computer-accelerated scientific discovery, similar to what classical physics has experienced.
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If a fault-tolerant quantum computer can be built, will it be useful? Researchers funded by our #Quantum Benchmarking program have released pre-prints on application areas where #quantumcomputing might make outsized impact over digital supercomputers: https://ow.ly/gMFT50SmskH
CTO, Suitespace | CEO, Orchestration Syndicate
3wQuantum-Digital hybrid systems have the ability to greatly accelerate large-scale databases